Learn about this topic in these articles:

rainfall

...was 15 °F (−9 °C). Most rainfall is blocked by the mountains to the west, so the valley is extremely arid. In a 50-year period in the 20th century, the average annual rainfall at
Furnace Creek was only 1.66 inches (42.2 mm), the maximum annual rainfall was 4.5 inches (114.3 mm), and two years passed with no measurable rainfall.